Gas tank flushes??

[Nathan289]

Ok, I'm tired of dealing with water in Penny's tank.
So I dropped the tank to find out that the tank is fairly new. The tank looks like it was changed in the last 5 years or so.. New sending unit too..
The inside still looks new, but I have lots of moisture in there that isnt gas..
I've called the radiator shops.. one told me I'd be better off buying new.. Even though I explained that it isnt rusty just lots of water.. But who wants to take something to someone that really doesnt want to do it?
The other shop said that it's getting to cold and to call back in the spring?? since when is 50* too cold??

So what other ways can I flush a gas tank? I can buy the por 15 tank kit, but rather not spend $180 plus shipping..
I'm thinking buy a gallon of diesel fuel and slosh it around in the tank and drain it.. maybe that will remove the water?

Any Ideas?

Nathan

[pbrown]

Does it have the drain plug in the corner? Pull the plug and drain the fluid. Leave the sender and filler off. Then place the tank in a dry place with good ventilation to air out. Maybe use a fan to flow air through.

Blow out your fuel lines with an air hose to be sure they are clear.

Blow out the tank vent tube also.

[Luva65wagon]

If it were me I'd pick up a gallon of acetone and plug all the holes after pouring 1/2 of it in. Then I'd slosh it around and around to dissolve anything that's in there. Then I'd drain it out and do what Patrick said. Acetone is very fast evaporating and it reall should rinse out anything in there. Then if there's any doubt pour the 2nd half in after you drain the first half and do it again.

I don't get what those guys are saying. I think they just sdon't want to mess with gas tanks now.

[Nathan289]

roger,
you hit it on the nose..the one place I did find that was willing to do it wanted $150 to do it.
supposedly it has something to do with recyling the waste water..why most shops don't touch gas tanks..

I was either going to use por 15 marine clean and skip the metal ready and the sealer.. the tank looks really good inside.. and out..

But I like your acetone idea.. question is the film that acetone leaves isn't going to cause problems??

Nathan

[Luva65wagon]

FWIW, acetone is the solvent Loctite recommends before you glue things together because it leaves no residue whatsoever. I think, assuming this stuff is soluble at all in acetone, of which there is no guarantee, you will get it very clean this way. And then you can use the polluted acetone, like I do, to clean greasy parts and stuff. You should be able to prop the tank up on the fill flange and drain any fluid out first. It would then be residue you are trying to dilute and remove. Right?

[Jeff W]

My dad belongs to a group of old guys that restore airplanes. They use a gallon of WD-40 to clean the tanks on the old birds. After they drain the gallon out, they re-use the "waste" for it's original purpose. A gallon runs about $15

[Jeff W]

After thinking about this for a couple of days (and nursing the Spider Bite I got while helping) I think we should save what you have.

Pull the pick-up tube/sending unit assembly and see if we can identify what it is out of... get a new one or repair the old.

Clean the outside of your tank so it looks decent and bring it to an old radiator shop and see what they charge to boil it out.... they still do that right? If it looks clean they may be more likely to allow it in their tanks.

Let's seal that baby and get it mounted.

We should also form the fill tube a bit to get better alignment with the nipple on the tank.

[Luva65wagon]

I'd like to have those two days back I spent on the Ranchero trying to clean and seal it - most was spent on the cleaning and not the sealing part. And it didn't clean as good as they said it would. The tank was pretty bad. I just sealed in whatever was left. I used the Eastwood kit, which at $50 for the kit and two days effort, the $279 for a new one seemed the bargain.

You on the other hand have no replacement you can buy that doesn't also have a lot of work to be done. I like Jeff's suggestion to see if a radiator shop can do the stripping. The Muriatic acid part was not very much fun.

Whatever you do - do it safe.

And Jeff - a Spider Bite? Ask my Mom, I'm not a fan of spiders. She moves them to safety when I go down to visit.

[Jeff W]

And Jeff - a Spider Bite? Ask my Mom, I'm not a fan of spiders. She moves them to safety when I go down to visit.

I'm assuming spider... the mark is big, round, red and angry. I think it crawled up my sleeve while I was laying in Brian driveway under the van.

[Luva65wagon]

Well, let's hope that's all it was and something doesn't break out of your chest and take over the world.

[BPVan]

Maybe we need a new member forum "The Infirmary" or "Hall of Pain" where we can highlight our restoration related injuries.